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Video of Attack on Berlusconi in Milan

Updated | 6:45 p.m. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was struck in the face after a political rally in Milan on Sunday and rushed from the scene with blood on his face.

Video of the attack soon surfaced, since Mr. Berlusconi was surrounded by television cameras as he left the rally. Reuters obtained the video embedded below from the Italian satellite broadcaster Sky Italia, which shows the end of the rally and the chaos after the attack as the man suspected of the assault was led away through a crowd of political supporters of Mr. Berlusconi.

Video

An Attack on Silvio Berlusconi

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was struck in the face after a political rally in Milan on Sunday and rushed from the scene with blood on his face.

Initially The Associated Press reported that Mr. Berlusconi, who is 73, was hit by “by a man holding a small statue in his hand.” Soon after the incident a report from the Italian state broadcaster RAI said the attacker may have struck the prime minister with a miniature reproduction of the Duomo, the city’s cathedral, which is near the spot where Mr. Berlusconi was signing autographs when he was attacked.

Later in the day, video of the moment Mr. Berlusconi was hit was broadcast on Italian television and appeared on the BBC’s Web site. This version of that video, published on CNN’s Web site, makes it clear that an object was thrown at Mr. Berlusconi and struck him in the face:

Earlier on Sunday, Britain’s Channel 4 News published this raw video, showing a brief glimpse of Mr. Berlusconi seconds before the attack — which apparently took place just as the camera panned away to the right — and then the chaos after he was struck:The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that a 42-year-old man who was immediately detained after the attack, Massimo Tartaglia, has no criminal record but has been treated for mental problems for a decade. La Repubblica’s article was illustrated by a photograph of Mr. Tartaglia being restrained after the attack. The same man seems to appear in the Channel 4 News video above, about 20 seconds into the clip.

Soon after he was bundled into his car, Mr. Berlusconi briefly reappeared, standing and looking back at the crowd, perhaps to show that he was not badly injured.

According to The Associated Press, police officials “said the premier was conscious and apparently not badly injured.” Mr. Berlusconi’s spokesman said that doctors at San Raffaele hospital in Milan had decided to keep the prime minister there overnight for observation.

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